Few Mafia Families operating within the United States have ever proven to be as resilient as the one located in the “City of Brotherly Love.” Although Philadelphia is a very small territory when compared to their Cosa Nostra brethren in New York City, Philly’s mob guys have proven themselves to be a very resourceful group of wiseguys indeed.
More than just a group of hoods, or even a Family per se, this close knit ‘clan’ for lack of a better word, has operated largely unimpeded by law enforcement’s best efforts to eradicate them. Even internal strife from time to time has failed to destroy this network.
They have successfully plied their underworld trade within the South Philadelphia area and its outer territories for over a century. Even today, where most former borgatas in many other small cities have become extinct or are on their last legs at best, Philly’s mob guys continue to rock and roll in the rackets with no end in sight.
South Philadelphia has a long history and love affair with mafiosi. It dates back to when the first Southern Italian and Sicilian people immigrated to the United States from Europe.
Traveling from New York’s Ellis Island, which was the main receiving area for most new immigration into the states, the nearby City of Philadelphia and the entire state of Pennsylvania for that matter became a popular place for newly arrived Italian immigrants to settle down with their families to start new lives in America.
Among the first recognized underworld powers in Philadelphia was a low-key Sicilian mafioso by the name of Salvatore Sabella. A native of the mafia laden seaside town of Castellammare del Golfo in Trapani province, historians say that, in fact, ‘Turi’ Sabella was ‘sent’ to Philly by his fellow Castellammarese associates in New York to fill the post of ‘Representante’ of the newly forming Cosa Nostra network developing in that city.
He was a quiet, unassuming leader, who maintained the fort for some years until eventually being retired for stronger leadership.
The original underworld entity that developed early on in South Philly and was known throughout all of Philadelphia was ‘The Greaser Gang.’ After Sabella, there were several interim bosses who were thought to have governed the Philadelphia mob over the next decade or so including John Avena, who was later murdered, and Giuseppe (Joe) Dovi, who led for a short time before dying of natural causes.
But the first leader who would really come to the attention of both law enforcement and the media alike was Joe Ida. He was a low-key racketeer who was born in Calabria as Giuseppe (Joe) Ida. He successfully led the borgata during the 1940s-1950s era. Ida was also one of those caught by New York State Police Troopers at the infamous Apalachin Meeting, on November 14, 1957.
The resulting nationwide publicity led to major federal investigations for the next several years. It became a watershed moment in the history of the ‘Brotherhood.’ It would also greatly unnerve the shadowy Ida. So much so that by 1959 he chose to fade from view into obscurity.
Apalachin was the specific event that was thought to have been the catalyst for Joe Ida to announce his retirement as the ‘Representante.’ By 1959, he chose to leave the United States altogether in order to avoid pending federal grand juries and investigations that were quickly gaining momentum. He retired back to his native Calabria where he quietly lived out the rest of his days.
In his wake, it was thought that an interim leadership headed by Dominick Olivetto and Giuseppe Rugnetta may have maintained the borgata until a more formal and permanent “Representante” could be selected to take Ida’s place.
Angelo Bruno was among several borgata members viewed as a possible successor, but it seems that another veteran member named Antonio (Dominick) Pollina was selected to lead the troops.
But underworld intrigue and Mafia politics would eventually become the catalyst for a shifting within the hierarchy of the Family. In a reversal of fortunes, Pollina would be cast out as leader, and Bruno would be installed in his place. This selection was said to have been endorsed by Don Carlo Gambino, who had only recently been elevated to lead his own borgata in New York City after the sensational barbershop killing of former boss Albert (The Executioner) Anastasia.
Because the city of Philadelphia always had a very large Sicilian population, and an extremely large contingent of Calabrian immigrants as well, these demographics were reflected within the city’s underworld makeup also. From its inception and for decades to come, the Philly mob had always shared power between those of Sicilian heritage, and their Calabrese brothers.
One of the most storied and successful of its leaders became the iconic mafioso Angelo Bruno Annaloro, better known as ‘Angelo Bruno.’
Born in Villalba, Sicily, on May 21, 1910, he was a longtime soldier who was later elevated to serve the Family as a ‘capo di decina.’ A quiet, low key and unassuming hoodlum,
In 1959, Bruno was tapped by the ‘Commission’ back in New York City to lead the Philadelphia Family. As stated, his close friendship with boss Carlo Gambino was pivotal to this nomination.
Simultaneous to his elevation, Bruno would also quickly gain a reputation for peace and tranquility over violence with the incident that arose between Pollina and himself.
It seems that because of jealousy and envy, Pollina had started several dangerous rumors that swirled around the underworld about Bruno. When he caught wind about what was being said about him, Bruno went to the NYC Commission with a request to intervene on his behalf.
The end result was Pollina’s expulsion from his throne, and Bruno’s elevation to those posts instead. Upon learning of Pollina’s disloyalty and the subversive plot against Bruno, the Commission gave Bruno the option of killing Pollina. But he chose to spare Pollina’s life instead which had been Bruno’s for the choosing.
By sparing this man’s life, it bode well for Bruno. He was elevated and ratified as the new official “Representatante” of the Family. For his treachery, Pollina was even ‘shelved’ for a time. This incident would help Bruno garner the moniker of ‘The Gentle Don.’
Angelo Bruno would govern this mafia ‘borgata’ for two decades. The ‘Bruno Family’ territory and main areas of operation was the entire South Philadelphia area and its adjoining towns and counties, the state of New Jersey, especially the South Jersey Atlantic City resort area, and the nearby town of Cherry Hill.
The cities of Trenton and Newark were also heavy Bruno territory. With the development of South Florida as a popular destination point during the 1950s era forward, Bruno Family members also started operating around Miami Beach.
To keep the delicate balance of power between factions within their borgata, once in power, Bruno picked a fellow Sicilian as his ‘second’ or underboss, Ignazio (Ignatz) Denaro. For his consigliere he chose a highly respected old-time Calabrian named Giuseppe (Joe the Boss) Rugnetta whose selection appeased members from that region of Italy.
During this era the Family had approximately eight ‘capo di decina’ who led the regimes of soldiers and associate-members. Chosen as capos at that time was Philip (Chicken Man) Testa, John Cappello, John (Johnny Keys) Simone, Felix (Skinny Razor) De Tullio, Dominick Oliveto, Joseph Scafidi, Pasquale (Pat) Massi, and Nicholas (Nicky Buck) Piccolo.
These men would lead what became known as the “Angelo Bruno Family.” They did so in a very quiet and successful manner for the next two decades.
At their 1950s-1960s peak, this medium-sized borgata was thought to have a formal inducted membership of approximately 75 to 100 or so soldiers. In addition to this formal membership were hundreds more ‘associates’ who augmented their numerical strength.
They operated the widest variety of racket activities that any given mafia network has ever been known to operate. These included a huge policy-numbers gambling business that rivaled any of those in larger cities. Angelo Bruno himself was one of the main ‘bankers’ that booked the action. As his overall ‘manager’ who oversaw the racket, he selected a capo named Philip (Chicken Man) Testa.
Many members and associates engaged in the numbers business, but among the more prominent were soldiers Frank Sindone and Frank (Chickie) Narducci, while capo John (Johnny Keys) Simone, and associate Joseph (Joe Bumpers) Pollestrelli ran their numbers operation up in Trenton, New Jersey.
Another hugely popular business for Philly’s soldiers was the loanshark racket. In fact, loan sharking, or shylocking as mob guys refer to it, was a well-orchestrated business that was organized from the top hierarchy right on down. Soldiers and associates alike were encouraged to participate in the racket.
Among the top ‘bankers’ who suppled money to the membership to loan out were Joe Rugnetta, Dominck (Mr. Migs) Pollina, and Bruno himself.
Several top soldiers were also assigned by the hierarchy to oversee the weekly collections to ensure the money kept flowing into the Family coffers. They included the four Franks – Frank (Snuffy) Iannarella, Frank (Frank Mendel) Matteo, Frank Sannini, and Frank Narducci.
Weekly floating dice and card games were other big rackets for the Philly mafia. It is very typical for many mafiosi and even normally independent racket guys to partner up with one another in these games. Big bankrolls were usually required to operate a long-running game successfully.
So, it was often common to see ten or fifteen mafiosi and their associates partner up in a single game whether it was a crap game, blackjack game, or the popular Italian card game Ziganette.
Over the years, many members of the borgata invested in one game or another. But there were always ‘specialists’ who were aces at operating a successful game.
Chief among the membership who were called upon to manage these games in the South Philly neighborhoods under Angelo Bruno’s rule were soldiers Joseph (Joe Gibbons) Lazzaro, Benito (Benny Rubin) Tedesco, Louis (Lu-Lu) Esposito, and associate Mario (Sonny) Riccobene.
And, of course, there were others in the Family who did the same up in the Trenton and Newark sections of New Jersey under the watchful eyes of capo Antonio (Tony Bananas) Caponigro and a few others.
Many mafiosi engaged in the bookmaking business as well. The borgata often partnered with semi-independent gamblers allied with a Jewish mob faction in Philadelphia led by mobsters Max (Willie) Weisberg and Samuel (Cappy) Hoffman.
The Jewish mob was very heavy into horse and sports bookmaking, and shylocking.
Among their more active members were Joe Kaneskey, Abe Glassman, Solomon (Solly) Gleaner, Mickey Tanitsky, Samuel (Sappy) Margolis, Edward (Brownie) Braylinski, Ralph (Tommy Foley) Katz; and labor union racketeers Abe Berman, Samuel (Shorty) Feldman, Benjamin (Benny) Lapensohn, Raymond (Ray) Cohen, Edward Walker, Albert (Al) Silverberg, Nathan (Nat) Newman, all of whom were tied to Teamsters Unions Local #107 and several other Philadelphia area labor unions.
Bookmaking, floating crap games and card games, untaxed liquor stills, narcotics, extortion, strong-arm, etc. There was no illegal racket off bounds that Bruno members wouldn’t engage in.
They were also deeply involved in fixing professional boxing matches through their management and tight control over such internationally known heavyweight champion prizefighters as ‘Sonny’ Liston, and ‘Jersey Joe’ Walcott. Philadelphia soldiers Frank (Blinky) Palermo and Felix Bocchicchio, and their notorious underworld partners Frankie Carbo and Vincent (Jimmy Doyle) Plumeri were the four top racketeers in this field.
What this Cosa Nostra group as a whole were not concentrated on was the deep penetration and iron-clad control of legitimate and semi-legitimate businesses that mafia members are usually known to be drawn to such as garbage racketeering, garment industry rackets, trucking companies, stevedoring companies and other waterfront operations. Likewise, the deep penetration of labor unions that most often correlate with these industries didn’t seem to have been a priority either.
Don’t get me wrong, there were indeed particular labor union locals that were affiliated with the Bruno Family. These included several affiliates of the Hotel, Restaurant, and Bartenders Union (AFL-CIO) such as Local #54, or the Roofers Union Local #30, which was affiliated with the Laborers International. But overall Philly’s mob was not as focused on union infiltration and domination as many of their brethren in other mafia laden cities were.
The one major exception to this general trend in their borgata was the coin-vending machine business. Several of their members held interests in jukebox companies. In fact, as boss, Angelo Bruno himself was the owner and primary partner in several cigarette machine and jukebox vending routes that dominated the City of Philadelphia and its outlying neighborhoods.
Bruno later expanded his vending machine interests to the Miami area when he went partners with several members of New York’s Gambino Family such as capo Agostino (Augie) Amato, and his soldier sons, Frank and Vincent, who had migrated south years earlier. They were partners in two vending routes with several Jewish associates named Harry Zimand and Irving Carey in Cigarette Distributors Inc., and Cigarette Service Co., both of Miami Beach. Back home in Philly, Bruno owned the Penn-Jersey Vending Company. He was also a partner in the Garden State Vending Company, with associate Ben Golob.
Bruno also held ownership interest in the Atlas Extermination Company, of Trenton, NJ, and later expanded this business model into Miami when he partnered with Tampa boss Santo Trafficante by opening up the Miami Pest Control Company. Other investments of his included the Aluminum Products Sales Corp., of Hialeah, Florida., and Iezzi’s Tavern, located at 8th and Washington Streets in Philadelphia. He also held valuable ‘ownership points’ in a casino business operating inside the Plaza Hotel, in Havana, Cuba.
Other important mafia members included the Maggio brothers; Mario, Peter, and Michael. They and their sons ran the Maggio Cheese Company, located at 11th and Washington Streets in Philadelphia. This was a large dairy company that dominated the Italian cheese manufacturing and distribution business in Philadelphia.
There were other Family members who also ran businesses. But most of those businesses were small mom-and-pop type operations such as bars and grills, luncheonettes, restaurants, delis, and other small retail establishments. Few were deeply engaged as a collective ’entity’ in big business as was seen in other cities where there was a concerted effort to capture entire industries or a dominant ‘market share’ of a particular type of business to be run as a monopoly where Cosa Nostra controlled the playing field.
Even in the Trenton area where the Philly crew had a large presence, most of those members ran small businesses such as soldier Michael (Daylight) Tramontana, who owned Eton Dry Cleaners; associate Joseph (Zingo) Tuccillo, who ran JJ Garden Supply Co.; or even capo Johnny (Keys) Simone, who owned the three-garbage truck Atlas Sanitation Company.
Once again, even in the North Jersey area, the only industry they seemed to focus on and dominate was the vending machine business.
Good examples of this domination and control was Trenton-based capo Charles (Pinky) Costello, who owned the J.C. Vending Company; his regime soldiers Andrew (Mingie) Avellino, Michael (Ponzi) Cammarata, and Nicky Russo, who were partners in the Capitol City Vending Company; and Carl (Pappy) Ippolito, who was the owner-operator of Trenton Cigarette Vending Service Company, all based in the greater Trenton area. Albert (Reds) Pontani, Vincenzo (Jimmy) Turco, Dominick Oliveto, and Tracey Giordano also allegedly shared in some of these business assets.
It seems that overall Philadelphia’s mob was most content to stay in the streets operating the wide variety of rackets they had created for themselves over the years. Few had the drive and mindset, if not the ability, to concentrate on ‘legit’ businesses.
Angelo Bruno carried his borgata through some rough times and overall was thought to have been viewed by the membership as a good boss. But regardless of how good a person is in life, especially in ‘The Life,’ there are always those who are disgruntled and unhappy with the powers that be. Bruno and the Philadelphia Family were no exception.
With Don Carlo Gambino’s death from natural causes in October of 1976, Angelo Bruno had lost his mentor, or ‘rabbi’ as mob guys put it. For decades the two Sicilian-born mafiosi had been simpatico and the closest of friends. This relationship insured Bruno’s safety, and his continued leadership position within the Philadelphia underworld.
But once Gambino was no longer on the scene, dissidents and those vying for more power within Bruno’s borgata started to rumble about his old-fashioned ways, his greed, and his general lack of proper leadership. It would all culminate with his gangland execution.
What started out as a quiet, subversive conversation between several green-eyes soldiers and capos, soon became a hidden but growing rebellion and eventual plot to murder their boss in order to assume his mantle of power and the great wealth that typically comes along with it. Chief among these antagonists was Bruno’s longtime consigliere Antonio (Tony Bananas) Caponigro, soldier Alfred (Freddy) Salerno, capo Frank Sindone, and several other top members who plotted along.
After Bruno’s assassination, Peter Casella and Frank Narducci would later join in an additional conspiracy to subsequently eliminate underboss Philip Testa in a further attempt to seize total power.
On the evening of March 21, 1980, the 69-year old mob boss had just returned from dinner with his driver-bodyguard and several associates at a South Philadelphia Italian restaurant. He and his Sicilian-born driver, John Stanfa, had parked outside Bruno’s Snyder Avenue row house. They sat in the front seat as the two casually chatted away.
It was a warm summer’s night and the car’s windows were rolled down for a bit of breeze. Suddenly two blasts from a shotgun rang out into the night. A mob assassin had quietly snuck up behind the automobile and stuck a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, or Sicilian Lupara, through the back window to the nape of Bruno’s head and pulled both triggers.
Two .12 gauge slugs ripped right through the back of the aging mafioso’s skull, blowing right through the front of his face and exiting his mouth. Brain matter was strewn across the windshield of the car. Angelo Bruno was massacred, but oddly, Stanfa remained totally unscathed.
Police investigators and news reporters who converged onto the murder scene took gruesome photos of Bruno. His head, or what was left of it, showed him with a grotesque oval-shaped mouth where the slugs had exited while doing their dirty work.
Bruno’s lifeless body remained in that car seat for many hours while homicide investigators and FBI forensic experts combed the automobile for traces of the killer. All the while newsmen continually snapped photographs of Bruno’s rigor mortis-set corpse. It was a very macabre scene….The king was dead. Long live the king!
Or so his killers thought and would have hoped. In short order, the Mafia Commission back in New York started demanding answers. You don’t go around killing a sitting Mafia boss without permission. It was obviously a lesson that Bruno’s plotters had failed to learn during their underworld careers. But given enough time, they were going to learn that cardinal Cosa Nostra rule the hard way!
Called to explain their actions, weak answers and sorry excuses for Bruno’s murder were presented to the Commission by the plotters. But the powers that be back in New York City obviously didn’t like what they ended up hearing.
In short order, Caponigro and Salerno were lured back to a ‘meet’ in New York City with the bosses of the Genovese Family. When the answers that ‘Chin’ Gigante and ‘Funzi’ Tieri wanted to hear weren’t forthcoming, both Philly mobsters were slaughtered right on the spot inside the meeting room.
Each ‘would be’ tough guy was beaten, repeatedly shot, and stabbed. Dollars bills were also stuffed into the anal orifice of Caponigro as a symbolic, age-old Mafia message to others within the underworld that Tony Banana’s greed is what got him killed. His corpse was thrown onto a New York City street next to trash-filled garbage pails.
Back in Philadelphia over the next several months, several others were killed gangland-style as well. Those killed included capos Frank Narducci and Frank Sindone who were also alleged to have been in on the Bruno plot.
One of the few mafiosi to survive this carnage or ‘house cleaning’ by the skin of his teeth was an old-time soldier and heroin merchant named Pete Casella. He had been one of the main plotters against the boss.
Only his longtime service as a soldier and his prior close friendship with several top Genovese members who went to bat for him enabled Casella to keep his head from getting severed. But he was forever banished from Cosa Nostra, and ordered to leave the City of Brotherly Love immediately and never show his face again, under certain pain of death.
Over the next decade or so the Philadelphia Family would undergo internal convulsions as various murder plots, intrigues, and factional disputes generated numerous gangland-slayings. Federal investigations, indictments and arrests, and decades-long prison sentences followed for the vast majority of their membership.
Various factions of the borgata would continuously fight one another while they jockeyed for position to try and capture the mantle of power that had been up for grabs since Bruno’s murder back in 1980.
There were so many power plays between factions and changes in hierarchy positions, both at the three-man triangle leadership level, as well as at the capo-regime level that it’s hard to even keep track of all the underhanded machinations that went on. But suffice it to say that over the next twenty years or so, dozens of men would die. Capos, soldiers, and associates alike. The mob’s assassins were not particular in who they shot or garroted.
It seemed that the Philly mob changed leadership positions as often as they changed their socks. After Bruno’s murder, they went through a long succession of official or ‘acting’ interim bosses that included Phil Testa, Nicky Piccolo, Nicky Scarfo Sr., John Stanfa, Ralph Natale, Joe Ligambi, until finally Joey Merlino.
And that’s not mentioning all the underbosses, consigliere, capos, and various ‘acting’ positions that were shuffled around as well. It became a maze of confusion in Philadelphia in the decades that followed.
And while all this underworld intrigue played out, the Philly mob continued to drop bodies in the streets on a steady basis. Over the course of the next decade or two following Bruno’s execution, literally dozens and dozens of mob figures were slaughtered.
Among the legion of mobsters who met their maker included Philip (Chicken Man) Testa, Raymond (Long John) Martorano, Felix (Little Felix) Bocchino, Mario (Sonny) Riccobene, Pasquale (Pat the Cat) Spirito, Alfred (Freddy) Salerno, Joseph (Joe the Nodder) Sodano, William (Crazy Willy) Gantz, Anthony Turra, Louis (Louie Irish) DeLuca, Antonio (Tony Bananas) Caponigro, Salvatore (Salvie) Testa, James (Jimmy Brooms) D’Addorio, Michael (Mikey Chang) Ciancaglini, Dominick (Mickey Diamond) DeVito, Frank Monte, Michael (Dutchie) Avicolli, Frank ((Chickie) Narducci Sr., Frank (Frankie Flowers) D’Alfonso, Vincent Falcone, William (Billy) Shear, Vincent (Tippy) Panetta, Frank Sindone, John (Johnny Keys) Simone, Francesco Di Giacomo, Rod Colombo, Frank (Frankie Bronze) Baldino, Michael (Mikey Ice) Brennan, Ralph Mazzucca, William (Billy) Veasey, Robert Matonis, Gino Marconi, Ronald (Ronnie) Turchi, John (Johnny Gongs) Casasanto, Rocco Maniscalco, and Gino DiPietro….and those are just the more publicized killings.
I’m sure there were a few others who slipped under the radar. This list also doesn’t mention all the shootings and attempted murders that were perpetrated during that same period.
All the wanton bloodshed and violence would lead to another major headache for the borgata. Members and associates alike came to fear for their very lives. Fellow wiseguys never knew what day Scarfo would give a Roman Coliseum-styled thumbs down on them.
Friends and foes alike shook in the alligator shoes whenever around their tyrannical crazed leader “Little Nicky” Scarfo. This cowering fear of their own boss would eventually lead to almost two dozen additional associates, soldiers and capos defecting to the government for their own protection, including Scarfo’s own nephew and underboss, Philip (Crazy Phil) Leonetti.
Among the more notable of these informants aside from Leonetti were; Ralph Natale, Lawrence (Yogi) Merlino, Thomas (Tommy Dell) Del Giorno, Nicholas (Nicky the Crow) Caramandi, Eugene (Gino) Milano, Ron Previte, Joseph Salerno, George Fresolone, Salvatore (Wayne) Grande, John Veasey, Robert (Boston Bob) Luisi Jr., Rosario Bellocchi, Biagio (Benny) Adornetto, Philip (Philly) Colletti, Peter (Pete the Crumb) Caprio, and Gaetano (Tommy Horse-Head) Scafidi. This list does not include the many additional lesser-known associates who also turned rat.
During those years if a member didn’t fall prey to death or became a rat for self-survival, then he surely ended up in prison. And it was usually for decades-long periods of incarceration too. Over fifty inducted members and dozens more Philadelphia and New Jersey-based mob associates spent decades behind federal prison walls, mostly on murder-related charges.
If and when they gained parole, most were already middle-aged, if not elderly and infirm. And many of them died behind bars while serving out those jail sentences.
Today, more than forty years since that first shot was fired into the base of Angelo Bruno’s skull, the borgata seems to be humming along quietly, and somewhat efficiently again, compared to what went on in previous decades.
The younger generation, who today are pushing middle-age, with some even collecting social security checks for themselves as well, seem to be getting along well. The notorious son of a Family veteran named Lawrence (Yogi) Merlino seems to have survived and been selected to lead the troops.
Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, the jail-hardened, street-savvy, direct blood-lined, and Cosa Nostra ‘groomed’ son and nephew of two former top figures of the Family have emerged as the ‘Boss.” He is said to lead a small but loyal contingent of ‘inducted’ boyhood friends and buddies who all seem to have stuck together through thick and thin.
Collectively, these men reputedly compose what the FBI claims are the new current membership of the South Philadelphia Family of Cosa Nostra. I imagine that after years as the Capo of the borgata it’s only appropriate to rename the clan the “Joseph Merlino Family.”
This borgata is currently under siege from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and its local law enforcement partners. It’s been that way for over four decades already and there’s no end in sight. As one of the few remaining active and high-profile Cosa Nostra networks left in the United States, the Philadelphia Family has a large bullseye on its back.
The FBI is doing their best to keep the Philly crew in their sights and crosshairs as they attempt to permanently dismantle what has arguably been one of the most violent, yet resilient, Mafia Families to ever operate in America….It sure looks like they’ve got their work cut out for them!
Until next time…”The Other Guy”
